


How to Kill A Vampire

by FebruaryGemini



Series: Villains Being Humans (Or At Least One Of Them) [4]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Biases, F/M, Main Story (Book 2), Post-Canon, Strong Language, heatstroke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:14:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 10,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27254020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FebruaryGemini/pseuds/FebruaryGemini
Summary: "Sylas, have you seen my— Where are you going?""I was going hunting." ((it's time to feed Craven Edge ;P))"Well, hang on half a second and let me put my hair up. I've learnt a new spell and I'd love to see it in action."They run into a beast that's a little too much to handle and roll really low trying to teleport away. Then the military gets involved. And Vox Machina.
Relationships: Delilah Briarwood/Sylas Briarwood
Series: Villains Being Humans (Or At Least One Of Them) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1926493
Comments: 32
Kudos: 6





	1. Sylas

The first thing my senses registered after the portal was light. Blinding, white light. The second thing was pain. I could feel my skin bubble and crack; hear it hissing; smell the smoke. I was screaming, curled up on my side in a desperate attempt to hide, but the light was everywhere. A thought, ‘I’m dying’, flashed through my mind, quickly drowned out by the, ‘make it stop!’

And then it did.

The heat lessened, the crackling stopped, and a gentle breeze cooled my blackened skin as it started, already, to heal itself. I didn’t move for a minute, afraid the respite wouldn’t last, but my fears were as unfounded as they ever were. I looked up to see my wife bracing her cape above me like a makeshift tent. She was the most beautiful woman; edged in gold like a solar eclipse. I found myself wondering what I did to deserve her. Then I noticed the tears that fell into the grass beside me. The whole tent shook with her sobs.

I reached up to cup her cheek, brushing her loose hair out of the way. “Delilah, please stop. You’ll dehydrate. I’m alive, you’re alive, that’s all that matters.”

She turned her head, leaning into my touch. “Th-that was it! Th-! Th-! ...that was my last high-level spell. I-I can’t get us home!”

The gravitas of her statement sank in even as she struggled with the words to explain it. “The- the sun w-on’t set for hours! We don’t have a-any supplies and I’m sorry, Sylas! I-I’m… I’m s-so sorry! I was aiming for home! I was aiming for home…”

\-------

Nothing but the buzzing of insects. It must have been an hour at least, but the sun showed no sign of moving. The heat was oppressive. I was fully healed and Delilah had stopped crying, but it wasn’t enough of a silver lining. It was difficult to breathe. We were both dripping with sweat, and I’d started wondering if blood would quench my thirst.

A harsh cry from some scavenger bird cut through the haze. Three heavy thumps as they landed. One hopped into view, peering into our little tent with its beady eyes, wondering if we were dead.

“Can you kill it for me?” Delilah’s voice was rough, and it took me a second to process what she was asking. Yes. Yes, I could. I pulled the dagger from my boot and lodged it in the bird’s chest with a flick of my wrist. A surprised squawk escaped it before it fell over. The other curious birds immediately took off, making quite the ruckus before settling down several feet away.

Delilah muttered a spell under her breath and lifted her hand just long enough to send her magic into the corpse. It lurched to its feet and hopped over to let me retrieve my dagger.

“Now get help.” It blinked like the idiot bird it was, and then took off.


	2. Malcolm

It was a quiet day at the garrison. I was up with Jackson, enjoying the sun and keeping watch. “There’s another one. Wonder what they found this time.”

I glanced over in that direction. Yup. This was the third kettle in two days. And back to the rhythmic sharpening of my sword. “There might be some predator out there that’s feeding them.”

The cicadas buzzed in the heat. I got distracted by the light that reflected off the blade, shifting the angle to chase an ant exploring the bricks up here. Jackson took a swig from his canteen. He was still watching the vultures.

Then I hear, “Huh. That’s new.”

“What?”

“I guess they kicked this guy out of the wake.”

I sheathed my sword and stood up to look. Sure enough, a lone vulture was flying away from the carcass. It looked like it was heading this way. ...it really looked like it was heading this way. It actually seemed to know where it was going.

“Is it coming over here?”

I don’t know why it would. Animals tended to stay away from humans on account of the whole ‘hunting’ thing. Nothing over here would attract it. But it was making a beeline for the garrison anyway.

“What is it doing?”

As it got closer, we could see something dripping from it. It was bleeding quite heavily from a wound in its chest. “How is it still flying?”

We both took a step back as it landed with a thump on the wall around the top of the tower. Jackson notched an arrow.

Now that it was only feet from me, I could tell. The wound was too deep to be a claw. This was a dagger or knife. A human had done this. And the vulture should be dead.

It blinked its beady black eyes and squawked at us.

Jackson drew back the string and raised the tip of the arrow. I set a hand on his shoulder. “Hang on a second. I’m going to get Dirk.”

Dirk was in the middle of a card game with Robin when I opened the door. “Hey, holyman, come up to the tower. We’ve got something you should see.”

He set his hand down and stood up. “Ok… what is it?”

“I think it’s undead.” 

When we stepped out onto the roof, Jackson and the bird were in the same stalemate. Dirk went over and pulled Torm’s symbol from his pocket, muttering a prayer under his breath. The bird only cocked its head.

“Yup. This bird is definitely undead. Recently too, from the look of that wound.”

“Well, I guess we know what that kettle found. Boys, we’ve got a necromancer on our hands.”


	3. Sylas

It had been some time since she’d sent the bird for help. I couldn’t tell you how much time. But the wait was much easier if I sat in her shadow as a bat. Honestly, I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this sooner. Delilah was having a much harder time of it. Her breathing was shallow and she looked sick. That bird had to come soon.

I heard them from a hundred yards away. More than one. And the distinct clinking of chainmail. The bird had alerted the military. Damn. I still couldn’t come out of the shadow, but I was small enough to fit in Delilah’s pocket. She was low on spells and sick with the heat. She was in no condition to be fighting. I couldn’t come out of the shadow long enough for it to matter. We still couldn’t get home and she’d kill me if I died defending her.

Then the shadow moved. Delilah’s arms were shaking, her eyes were half-shut, and her heart rate was too fast. She was going to faint, the military was almost upon us, and I couldn’t  _ do anything! _

I darted into her pocket before she fell. At the very least, I could still be alive when she woke up. Hopefully, they wouldn’t kill her before we’d gotten out of the sun.


	4. Jackson

On the way to the whatever-it-was that attracted the kettle, Dirk informed us that  _ he _ could raise a vulture from the dead, so we might not be dealing with a necromancer per-se. But Malcolm wanted us on our guard anyway. I didn’t trust anybody who went around raising vultures, so I had an arrow on the string before we’d come over the ridge.

What we saw was… well I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t this. This was a cloak. A nice cloak, feminine, for colder weather, with something, probably a body beneath it. What was it doing out here? A lady, in a cold-weather cloak, in the middle of a field?

“What?” Apparently, Robin was just as confused as I was.

“Necromancers wear cloaks too.” The captain had a good point. We couldn’t lower our guard just because it wasn’t what we’d been picturing.

“But, it’s a winter cloak. Even a necromancer wouldn’t wear a winter cloak in this heat.” Dirk, trying to convince us that it wasn’t a necromancer. Then it shifted, dropping closer to the ground. “See? They’re in trouble and they need our help.”

Malcolm sighed and said, “Alright, fine. Let’s get them inside and then we can decide what to do.”

The four of us headed down the ridge. I passed the manacles over to Robin so I could keep my arrow aimed at its head. Dirk had his holy symbol out of his pocket, ready to cast something harmless at a moment’s notice. Malcolm went up and set his sword against their neck while Robin found her wrists and bound them behind her back. Now that we were closer, we could see that it was a woman. Dark red hair, and fine clothes just a little travel-worn. But there was a faint smell of death about her.

Once her hands were bound, Malcolm sheathed his sword and scooped her into his arms, ready to trek back to the garrison.


	5. Delilah

Consciousness is a funny thing. It danced around me, throwing everything into a bright haze. Bright. Bright was bad. We were supposed to stay out of the sun. We. Where was Sylas? He’d been in my shadow. Where was my shadow? I was moving. In someone’s arms. Sylas. Thank the gods he wasn’t dead. There was cool metal over my hands. It felt nice in this heat. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. We kept striding through the dry grass. Were we going to get out of the sun? I’d like to get out of the sun. Sylas would die in the sun…

\-------

The next thing I was aware of was voices.

“Absolutely not. An undead vulture landed on the roof of this garrison and it came from your direction. We don’t have the means to trace the spell yet, but I know one of you cast it, and necromancy has been outlawed quite strictly for a number of years. I cannot allow you to leave until we get to the bottom of this.” This was an older male. Presumably the one in charge.

“And when you find out that it was neither of us who cast it and you’ve only cost us a significant amount of time, what sort of reparations should we expect?” I could practically see Sylas’s face; carefully indignant and aloof.

“There won’t be any need for reparations. We’ll let you be on your way as soon as the lady is rested. Right, Captain?” A younger man cut in.

“No, Jackson! we can’t let this thing loose!” A second young man.

And back to my husband who hissed.

Then the voice of a young woman. “You both should have some water regardless. How did you end up in the middle of the field?”

“We were on our way home if you’ll believe it. We’d just received an urgent message from our regent and teleported straight away, but something went wrong.”

I felt his steady hand beneath my head and opened my eyes just in time to catch his shoulders relax. He helped me to sit and held a wooden cup of water to my lips. Thank the gods. It was then that I realized that my hands were still bound. And not in the easy way with just a ring around my wrists. No, these were nasty things; long and round, pinched on one end, and designed to keep one’s fingers still. As soon as I could speak, “Sylas, darling?” And I indicated the manacles that prevented me from casting spells.

His shoulders collected every bit of the tension they’d dropped before. “Jackson, you will remove your restraints from my wife, won’t you?”

Jackson, a dark-skinned man with a bow slung over his shoulder, reached for the keys on his belt before looking at the captain who shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir, but I know what I saw and I don’t trust either of you as far as I can spit. So, if you’ll just answer a few questions… Dirk?”

Dirk, a blond man wearing the symbol of Torm, shook his head. “Not today. It’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Well, I honestly don’t know what the king wants me to do with necromancers, but I’m certain it isn’t ‘let them go about their business’. So, you can stay here overnight while we figure this mess out. And, if you’re telling the truth, I’ll make it up to you. Until then, you’ll be our guests. Sorry that we don’t have guest rooms.”

It wouldn’t do to start the bloodshed now and we were trying to be at least slightly reformed. “Alright, we’ll play your game, as long as I can Send a message to our regent to let him know why we’ve been delayed.”

“Fair enough,” the captain said, going around to the desk against the wall, “what should the message say?”

I rolled my eyes and lifted my hands again. “It will be much faster if I do it myself.”

“If I might remind you,” my husband chimed in, “the message that our regent sent us was quite urgent and I don’t think he’d appreciate waiting a day for a reply.”

The captain sighed.

Then it was my turn to grease the wheels. “If I had anything more powerful than Sending, I would have already used it trying to get out of the sun.”

“Fine. Fine, Jackson, give her a hand.”

Dirk was watching everything with a scowl on his face. I didn’t want to judge a book by its cover but he didn’t strike me as the paladin type. Cleric then. A cleric would know if I cast anything besides Sending, but there was no need to lie. Once I was rested, we could be on our way whether the captain said so or not. This message was just an extra layer of precaution. I made sure he could see as I drew the runes in the air. Honestly, his suspicion didn’t concern me nearly as much as Anna’s lack of response. She was never one for words, but she had always let me know if she’d received the message.

Then the cleric stepped forward. “Alright, you’ve sent your message. Now play our game.”

Jackson replaced the manacle, then the young woman and Dirk stepped forward to help him usher us down the hall. The garrison had a few holding cells in the back. It wasn’t the worst place we’d stayed, but I’d prefer not to revisit those times. At least they were clean.

Neither of us expected to be roomed together; these garrison members weren’t  _ that _ dense, they’d even left an empty cell between us to make things harder. But what we didn’t expect was the cleric hanging back after the others had left. He stood across from my husband with his arms crossed. The dividing walls were brick, so I couldn’t see how Sylas was taking this.

“I know what you are.”

My heart dropped like a stone. Any cleric worth his salt knew what my husband was. It didn’t make him any less powerful, and he’d probably revealed himself as soon as we got in the shade anyway, but something about this announcement struck terror. And he wasn’t done.

“I know these bars won’t stop you. This probably won’t stop you either, but it should let you know what you’re up against.” He recited an incantation and I heard a rush of wind as something was summoned into being. “Good day.” And he headed back up the hall.

As soon as he was out of earshot I asked my husband, "Sylas, what was that?"

"...fuck."


	6. Malcolm

“Dirk, you seem a little on edge. Did you sense something?” I asked as soon as he came back.

“Yes, captain. He’s undead; probably a vampire.”

I let out a sigh. “I figured it was something like that.” It certainly explained why he’d waited until we got to the garrison to appear, and how he’d seemed to do so out of nowhere. But I had a lot more questions about this couple that I wanted answered. “How quickly can you have Zone of Truth ready?”

“Eight hours from now. I put a guardian down there though. He shouldn’t be able to get past it.”

“Fair enough.” I went into the drawer and pulled out the paperwork for when we had people staying at the garrison. Dirk didn’t move. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

“Vampires can exert their influence over weak-willed people, turning them into thralls that do their bidding.”

“Ok…?”

“All they need is eye contact. One of us could become a thrall at any minute. We should have some safeguards in place.”

“Noted. See if there’s something you can prepare to counter this effect and I’ll make sure the others are on guard.”

“It’s entirely possible that this woman is also a thrall. Vampires are capable of spellcasting. He could be the necromancer and she could be innocent.”

“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow when we question them.”

“Alright. Good day, captain.”

He went off, presumably to rest and refresh his spells, and I started filling out the paperwork.


	7. Jackson

I knew I probably shouldn’t, but I found myself wandering towards the holding cells. Dirk was meditating on the roof, Robin was outside sparring with the dummies, and Malcolm was busy at his desk. My feet were moving, and that was the direction I ended up going. I caught the glimmer of Dirk’s guardian in front of the man’s cell. It seemed like overkill. These guys had just done what was necessary to get out of the sun. And they had a regent who was waiting for them to get home and deal with this problem. We should have let them go. Or stay someplace more comfortable at the very least.

I pushed past the guardian and looked into the barred window of the door. I didn’t know his name, but he radiated dignity, wisdom, and power even in here. It would be rude to call him anything but ‘sir’. “Sir, is there anything I can get you?”

He stopped pacing and shot me a glare which softened before he said, “Yes, Jackson. There is something you can do.”

“Certainly, sir, whatever I can do to make your stay more comfortable.”

He almost smiled at that. “Excellent. Go in to my wife and make sure her hands are free.”

“I’ll have to clear it with Malcolm. He likes to do things by the book.”

A moment of hesitation before he stepped closer. “By the book is a very good way to do things. But with the amount of paperwork for what’s already happened, I’m sure he’d appreciate you taking the initiative here and letting him know once he’s had a minute to rest. We wouldn’t want to bother him while he’s working, would we?”

“You make a fair point." He did have a lot to think about right now. But releasing a potential necromancer still seemed like a bad idea. “Your wife won’t cast any spells and escape, will she?”

“Of course not. We’ve let our regent know where we are and what’s happened. We’ll stay right here until this matter is resolved. Scout’s honor.”

Well, scout’s honor isn’t something to be taken lightly. He seemed trustworthy, and I know I wouldn’t want my wife in chains overnight either. “Alright. I’ll take the manacles off.”

“Thank you, Jackson. This won’t be forgotten.”

We’d left one empty cell between them. Malcolm’s book recommended spacing as much as possible to ‘minimize fraternization’, or something like that. So I got the keys from the end of the hall and unlocked the door two over.

He’d been pacing, full of restless energy. She sat on the cot, leaning against the back wall with her eyes closed, looking like she was trying to sleep sitting up. I didn’t know what they’d been doing before their regent contacted them, but by the state of her dress, I’d say it was taxing and dangerous.

I knocked on the open door to get her attention and held up the ring of keys. “M’lady?”

She looked up and smiled.


	8. Delilah

It was just like my husband; to send his thrall to rescue me first. But Jackson had hardly gotten the first cuff off before we heard footsteps running towards us. I hadn’t had the chance to recover my spells yet. At this point Sending was my best bet. I needed someone on the outside. And I wouldn’t get another chance. I sketched the runes before I knew what I was doing with it.

Anna hadn’t answered.

The Whispered One’s forces had been scattered and decimated. The runes were fading. I had to choose a target. I didn’t know if anyone who would help us was still alive. I knew none of those who’d helped us take Whitestone were, Percy had made sure of that.

Percy!

_ Help! We need someone t—! _

Damn.


	9. Percy

_ Help! We need—! _

That was it. I knew it was from Delilah but beyond that, there was nothing. I set the screwdriver down. A significant portion of me wanted to ignore it. We didn’t owe them anything.

Vex was looking at me from across the room. “Is something wrong?”

I sighed and buried my face in my hands. What if I didn’t tell her? What if I just said it was nothing? Why couldn’t she have given me more information? What did she need help with? Why me? “...I just got a message from Delilah.”

She set the baby down on the floor. “What?!”

“I know.”

“What was it.”

“She just said, ‘help’.”

“Help with what?”

“I don’t know. And it doesn't matter anyway.”

A moment of tense silence passed before Vex threw a finger in the air like she’d just had an idea. Then she ran up the stairs. I stood and picked Vesper up before she could crawl into trouble. She babbled at me and made grabby hands at my glasses. So I took them off and let her hold them. They were in her mouth in less than a second. That’s fine. I was planning on cleaning them anyway.

Her weight in my arms just reminded me of our last encounter with Delilah, when she’d cursed Vesper to sleep forever. We’d broken the curse by bringing Sylas back, and Vesper had probably only slept for a week. The curse meant she hadn’t aged for that week. It wasn’t like anyone could tell, but I held her a little tighter anyway.

We had seen the last of that devil of a woman. It didn’t matter what she needed help with. She'd hurt my family too many times and my mind was made up.

Then Vex came downstairs with a white orb in her hand. Ahh, the scrying orb! She meant to see what sort of trouble the Briarwoods were in. I had to stop her before she wasted its use of the day. “Vex, we’re not going.”

“Shouldn’t we at least see what she needs help with? C’mon, Percy. I don’t get enough chances to use this thing. Also, is Vesper eating your glasses?”

“Yes. It’s not like she can do them any harm. But my decision on this is final. We're not going.”

“She needs help.”

“How can you say that after what she's done? She’s a devil.”

Vex jabbed a finger in the direction of her bow. Fenthris. The bow that she had carved the elvish word for ‘forgiveness’ into. The argument that she had used against me more times than I would like. I sighed. “No. We brought Sylas back, and we didn’t kill them as they walked away. What happens to them now is none of our business.”

“She asked  _ you _ for help.”

“We are staying out of it.”

“Well,  _ I’m _ going to scry on her. What else are we going to use this orb on anyway?”

“Fine. It’s not like I can stop you.”

She plopped down cross-legged on the floor, with the orb in her lap, and closed her eyes. Vesper sucked on my glasses. The clock on the wall ticked. It would need winding soon. I would never admit it, but I was curious too. What could have happened that Delilah would ask  _ me _ for help? What could have happened that  _ Delilah _ would ask for help?

I couldn’t see Vex’s expression, but the atmosphere of the room got colder; it felt almost afraid. What if they were in real trouble? What if I wasn’t her first choice? What if this was a last, desperate cry for help from someone whose hope was fading fast? She’d lost Sylas… three times now? I didn’t want to think about losing Vex again. Watching her drown had been more than enough. If Vex was in trouble, would I ask Delilah for help?

“Are you sure we’re not going?” Vex’s voice was small. She sounded like she wanted to go.

“...what did you see?”


	10. Vex

As soon as I closed my eyes, the orb was pulling me away from Whitestone. I saw rough water and rocky shores, thick green forests, open fields, cities and towns; somewhere in the Dwendalian Empire… there was a grassy plain, and a squat brick building, and a locked room, and Delilah.

Her hands were bound with the sort of manacles that prevented spell casting. Those were fastened to a chain, and the other end of the chain was bolted to the floor. A plate of food sat on the cot beside her. Not like she could eat it. Her braid was falling apart, the hem of her dress was dirty, and she was pale; more pale than usual. I had no idea how long she’d been there. It could have been weeks or months, and she’d only just now gotten a hand free to cast Sending. I didn’t see Sylas anywhere.

I hadn’t been inside very many prisons. But every time I was, there was always some dark corner for my imagination to project a white-haired boy into. It was silly. My brother had probably spent more time behind bars than Percy ever did. But my brother had always been able to get himself out. Percy said it was only a day or two before we showed up, but he still had to wait for us to show up. And he had no idea we were coming. He sat there, without hope, for two days before we walked in.

Delilah can’t cast spells. She can’t get herself out. I mean, good. Her reign of terror needs to end.

_ “I just want to sit in the parlor with a book and a cup of tea and my husband! That’s all I’ve ever wanted!” _

...she isn’t working for Vecna anymore. His reign of terror has ended. Did she ever have one?

Then I was pulled back across the ocean to my comfortable living room in Whitestone. The man that I love was standing there, alive and safe and happy, holding our baby girl, also alive and safe and happy. Not in danger. Not in chains. Not in tears. “Are you sure we’re not going?”

“...what did you see?”


	11. Delilah

What was I _thinking?!_ I’m an _idiot!_ An absolute _moron!_ That was maybe the only chance I’d get and I’d _wasted_ it! They were going to question us as soon as the cleric could cast his stupid anti-lie spell!

I wasn’t worried about Sylas, he had a knack for succeeding when the odds were against him. He’d be able to lie. But if I couldn’t… Who knows what sort of information they’d make me tell them? How many ways would they make me incriminate myself? I mean, everything I did was justified and logical, but society always wanted to punish the powerful. And, in this moment of need, I’d chosen to reach out to the _one_ person who would trek halfway across the world just to watch me burn!

What would the garrison learn about us? What would they do with that information? ...perhaps they were also seeking. Perhaps they’d be sympathetic. Perhaps they would understand and side with us. No. It was far more likely that we’d be shipped to the capitol and publicly executed. The king himself would come down just to gloat. He’d tell me that my evil deeds had finally caught up to me, just like he knew they would. Even though he had forgotten all about me until yesterday and none of my deeds had been ‘evil’.

Percy isn’t coming. Not unless he’s bringing wood for the pyre. No one else will save us. I have to do everything myself. _E_ _verything._

Who went looking for a cure instead of sitting there and crying about it? Me. Who looked for alternatives instead of accepting death as irreversible? Me. Who found the rites of vampirism? Who collected the materials needed? Who performed the ritual perfectly on the first go at it? _Me._

Who researched the ritual of ascension, and the ziggurat, and the steps I’d have to take? Me. Who planned for every possibility in regards to the Whitestone take over? Me. Who made sure that plan went off without a hitch? Ok, well that one’s mostly on… _me._ It was me.

Who completed the ritual and opened the first gate? And the second gate? And the third gate? Who enacted the final ritual on the top of Entropis and successfully raised a litch to _godhood_ ?! Who has done _all_ the work for _thirteen FUCKING YEARS?! Me!_ It’s always me!

...and who has been by my side through all of it? Sylas.

Sylas deserves to be saved.

I can save him.

So I will.

I’ll just do it again. It’ll be fine. We had peace for a month, we can have more peace later. I’ll rest then.

The only problem is these god _damned_ manacles!


	12. Robin

She fumed silently the entire time. I replaced the manacles and made sure they wouldn’t come off again while Malcolm ushered Jackson into the cell across the hall. There wasn’t much I could say to comfort her, and I’m sure she wouldn’t listen anyway, so I just did what I had to do and left. I did hear metal clang against metal after I’d shut the door though. A shadow of the tantrum she was throwing in her head I’m sure. Good; it isn’t healthy to bottle up your emotions like that.

Malcolm shut the door to Jackson’s cell and sighed heavily before heading back down the hall. I followed a few steps behind. I wasn’t dumb enough to stand here after that.

See, Malcolm had called me away from training once he was done with the paperwork. Said he had something to say about our “guests”. Turns out one of them was a vampire. And vampires could turn anyone into a thrall just by looking at them. So I was to be on my guard and not let him into my head. Then he asked if I knew where Jackson was so he could tell him the same thing. I said that I’d seen him loitering around the holding cells.

We both put two and two together in the time it took to blink and sprinted down here to stop him. Looks like we were just in time. It’s a wonder she hadn't killed him.


	13. Percy

“I seem to recall you wanting them dead as much as I did. Aren’t you the one who screamed, ‘how’s it feel bitch’ as you shot her in the head?”

“Yes. Yes, I did do that,” my wife said as she brushed past me on her way back down the hall. She’d been running all over the house collecting her adventuring gear like we were actually going to help them. “But—” she pulled up short and turned to face me, “you didn’t see what I did. I mean, I told you what I saw, sure; but you didn’t  _ see _ it. If I didn’t know what she was capable of, she would have looked pathetic.”

“Vex,” I shifted Vesper to my other hip, “ _ if _ you didn’t know what she was capable of. But you do. She is heartless and cruel, and she’s finally been caught.”

“If I was dying, would you sell your soul to save me?”

“...don’t.” It wasn’t the exact words, but I’d heard that question in Delilah’s voice only a month ago.

“Would you?”

“You know I would. But I am  _ nothing _ like her!”

“What makes you different? The fact that you’re redeemable?”

“ _ Yes. _ ” I had worked my butt off trying to repair the damage my creation had done to the world. Delilah had done no such thing.

“Why are you redeemable if she isn’t?”

“Because I’m  _ sorry! _ ”

She took a step back, but her eyes didn’t lose their intensity. The intensity that I’d fallen in love with. “Percy… I have to save her.”

“What the fuck?  _ Why?! _ ”

“Because she reminds me of you!”

“...do you think  _ I’m _ as bad as she is?!” I asked, absolutely incredulous.

She just spun on her heel and hurried down the stairs. “Keep Vesper alive for me!”

I heard the front door slam. Vesper started crying.


	14. Cassandra

Vex'ahlia came into my study like a whirlwind. She was all decked out in her dragonhide armor with her broom in her hand and Fenthris on her back. “Cass, I need to use the teleportation circle.”

The letter I’d been reading was suddenly unimportant as my mind flooded with all sorts of reasons for Vex to demand this of me. “What’s happened?”

“Percy got a message from Delilah.”

Out of everything I’d been imagining, hearing from  _ her _ again was not on the list. The room seemed to close in around me. It was getting harder to breathe. I remembered her voice saying, “then starve” before she locked my door again. I remembered the buttons on her dress as we walked in the tunnel they’d carved under the castle. I remembered her hand, soft against my hair. I remembered her perfume that didn’t quite cover the smell of blood. I remembered her sitting in my mother’s chair as if she didn’t know the sacrilege she was committing. I remembered, with a shudder, what she’d said to me before I drove my rapier through her heart.

But all of that was in the past. She wasn’t a threat anymore. Right? “Vex…? Why does this mean you need to use the teleportation circle?”

“She asked him for help.”

“...what?” So far, every word she’d said had been one slap in the face after another.  _ Vex _ needs to  _ teleport _ because  _ that witch _ contacted  _ my brother _ and asked him for  _ help?! _

“Cass, I just need to get to Wildemount.”

I could hardly process what she was saying. I picked up the cup of tea on my desk and threw back my head to catch the last— I’d already done that. I did that a while ago. There wasn’t any tea left. I stood up and went to ring for the servants.

“Cass, please! I don’t know how much time we have.”

Casper opened the door just as I was sitting back down. “You rang, m’lady?”

“Yes. Casper, would you please bring a pot of tea and another cup for Vex? Thank you.”

“What?! No! I don’t have time for tea! I have to get to Wildemount!”

_ Alright. Let’s be rational. Take a deep breath and approach this like you would any other problem. _ “Where in Wildemount?”

“I don’t know exactly. They’re at a military base in the middle of nowhere.”

“And do you have a plan for what you’ll do when you get there?”

“...no…”

“Vex, sit down. Have some tea.”

“Cassandra, you cannot talk me out of this. I know you have more reason than most to want them dead, but I...” She trailed off as if unsure why she wanted to go.

“Literally died when he crashed your wedding?” I supplied for her. “You don’t even know where you’re going or what you’ll do when you get there. They are evil. Let them die.”

She dropped into the chair across from me. “But…”

“But the evil that they’ve done outweighs any good that they could do. They practically orchestrated the end of the world.”

Her eyes got very hard. “Maybe this isn’t about them. Maybe this is about me. Maybe I want to forgive them. Maybe I don’t want them to die anymore.”

“Maybe you want to be a hero again.”

“Maybe I do!”

“Vex, if you want to be a hero I have almost a hundred orphans and eighty homeless right here in Whitestone. You do not need to save the people who  _ murdered my family! _ ”

“Just let me use the teleportation circle. I understand that you want them dead, but I don’t. Not anymore.”

I managed to look unconvinced. It wasn’t hard.

“Cass, I scried on her. They had her in chains. She couldn’t even eat the food they’d brought her.”

“‘Then starve.’ That was what she said to me.”

“ _Cass!_ ...fine. I mean, I won’t ask you to forgive them. They hurt you, you have every right to be angry, just don’t ask me to hate them.”

Then the door opened and Casper brought in the tea, setting a second cup down in front of Vex. 

“Thank you, Casper.” He nodded and left, letting me pour the tea. “...I won’t ask you to hate them, but you need more of a plan before I let you teleport to the middle of nowhere.”

She actually took the cup and sipped at the tea. “You’re right… Keyleth has gotten us pretty close to places we’d never seen before. Maybe I should talk to her...”

“Maybe you should.”


	15. Sylas

The empty cell on the end of the hall had been temporarily converted into an amateur's interrogation chamber. It was so obvious that these guys had no idea what they were doing that I seriously considered not resisting just to throw them a bone. It didn’t help their case that I could hear them all the way down the hall.

“Sir, it would be a waste of spell slots.”

“Just do it, Dirk. I want every possible advantage I can get.”

How cute. They thought they could get an advantage. Maybe I should throw them a bone. It might help us later if they think they can trust me. I could probably twist the truth, mislead them, and strategically not answer, so they wouldn’t get anything valuable anyway. I just wish I knew what Delilah’s plan was.

Then the door opened and Malcolm and Dirk walked in. Dirk was clearly apprehensive and Malcolm actually had a small pile of paper and a pen. They’d done this once, maybe twice before. “Alright, let’s get started.”

Dirk cast his spell. His holy symbol glowed. I could feel Torm glaring at me. He knew what I was. But worse than that, he knew what I had done. I trusted in the idiocy of these people though, so I let him prevent me from lying. Dirk looked at me like he was surprised. “...ok, captain. He’s clear.” The captain also looked like this was news. Good; uncertainty leaves one open to suggestion. 

“Why are you surprised? We are just a man and his wife trying to get home.”

The cleric looked almost offended. “You’re not just a man. You’re undead.”

“Dirk, please,” Malcolm said before turning to me. “What, exactly, are you?”

“I’m a husband and a warrior and the lord of a small village.” I couldn’t lie, but that didn’t mean I had to tell them what they wanted.

“And a vampire!” Dirk insisted.

Malcolm ignored him. “A husband. Is the woman with you your wife?”

“She is, yes. We were married in Rexxentrum in the year 790 PD. The records are still there if you care to look.”

“Under which names were you married?”

“Sylas Cronqvist and Delilah Briarwood.”

“Interesting.” He said, jotting away at his paper. “And are you actually a vampire?”

“I don’t see why that should matter.”

“Answer the question.”

“...I am.”

Dirk settled back, looking extremely validated.

“And, lord Cronqvist, which one of you raised the vulture from the dead?”

“That would be my wife.”

“Did she also raise you?”

“Not in so many words.”

“But she had a hand in it?”

“Most certainly.”

“Alright, so she is the necromancer, and you are a vampire.”

“Sure.”

“Well, that’s all I needed to know. We’ll let you know if there’s anything else. Dirk?”

Dirk pushed himself off the wall where he’d been leaning and gestured for me to leave the room first. The door to my cell closed behind me, and I spent the next few minutes wondering if I’d made the right choices.


	16. Delilah

“Your husband tells us that you raised the vulture.”

It was a poor attempt at an interrogation chamber. I could do better in my sleep. I had done better in my sleep. My dreams are none of your business.

“Is that true?” The captain prompted, trying to catch my attention and get me to answer.

But this only gave me pause. Sylas  _ had _ told the truth. Now I wasn’t sure if it was a clever ruse or if they’d been persistent enough that he’d failed. “Shouldn’t you know if it’s true? Isn’t that what your little spell is for?”

Malcolm sighed and then turned to Dirk who pulled out his holy symbol. I felt Torm look down through the ceiling. “You practice necromancy. Who taught you?”

My tongue felt thick in my mouth. I couldn’t lie if I wanted to. It would be wise to keep my answers as short as possible. “I did.”

“Are you aware that necromancy has been outlawed in the Dwendalian empire?”

“I am.”

“Then why do you continue to practice it?”

“Why does anyone?”

“Answer the question.” 

“To have dominion over death.”

“How did you really end up in the desert?”

“Teleportation gone wrong.”

“Where were you going?”

“Home.”

“Where from?”

“Hunting.”

“Hunting what?”

“Beasts.”

“Alright. I can see that you don’t want to cooperate. Now at least we know that you are the necromancer, and your husband is a vampire. I’ll contact headquarters and see what they want me to do. In the meantime, lady Cronqvist, please don’t make this harder for yourself. I will do what I can, but I need you to help me. This could be quick and painless, but it certainly doesn’t have to be.”

I knew it didn’t have to be. I was keenly aware that it didn’t have to be. But surrendering was not in my nature. I would fight this as long as I could breathe. This was not how my story ended.

Wait, did he just call me lady  _ Cronqvist? _ I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing out loud.  _ Crap _ . This meant that Sylas had told them our names. He’d told them more about our names than anyone had known in thirteen years. I wish I knew what his plan was! Why hadn’t we discussed this at home?

Malcolm gathered his papers and stood, gesturing at Dirk who took hold of my arm and led me back to my cell.


	17. Keyleth

When Delilah Briarwood knocked on Percy’s door a month ago, he realized that we needed something stronger than the earrings and for more direct conversation than the Crisis Orbs. Luckily, the world was in our debt after the Vecna fiasco, so it wasn’t hard for us to get a set of four sending stones. One at Percy and Vex’s house, one at Pike and Scanlan’s, one for Taryon, and one for me. Vax didn’t need one. I kept mine on me most of the time, in case of emergencies. But it was mostly used to swap gardening tips and sometimes Taryon would call with questions, so it wasn’t surprising when the stone buzzed in my pocket. “Yes, hello?”

“Keyleth! Hi! I need a favor.”

This was the first time Vex had contacted me since the incident. I figured no news was good news, but maybe I should have checked in with her. “What sort of a favor?”

“I need you to get me to Wildemount.”

“Why? What’s happening in Wildmount?”

“Ok. So, Delilah contacted Percy and asked him for help. I used the scrying orb to check up on her and found her in jail. She can’t eat, Keyleth. We have to do something.”

I was shocked into such a long silence that Vex actually asked if I was still there. Delilah was in jail, and she asked Percy for help, and Vex wanted to go help her? Why would Delilah ask Percy for help? Why would Vex want to help her? “Vex… are you ok?”

“What? Yes! Of course I’m ok. Keyleth! I don’t know how much time we have!”

“...you do realize that she’s the reason Vax is…?” I couldn’t finish that sentence. I didn’t even know how to describe his predicament. He wasn’t ‘dead’, but he certainly wasn’t ‘alive’ either. Honestly, I didn’t want to think about it long enough to figure it out.

Vex was quiet for a good long time, “...no. The Raven Queen is. She was always going to claim him, and with the way my brother lived, he was always going to die young. Delilah killed a lot of us. It’s not her fault that Vax isn’t coming back.”

“But she disintegrated him. If she hadn’t, there would have been a body for us to revive.”

“Ok, but…”

“No. I’m sorry, Vex, but I can’t think about this right now. Delilah is getting no less than what she deserves.” And I ended the communication with a sick feeling in my stomach.

I needed some air. I left the stone on my bed and went to sit under the great tree. That one raven came and perched on the root beside me. Just its presence made me feel a little better.


	18. Roger

“Ok,” I said, dropping a pile of papers in front of the scrying mirror, “Delilah Briarwood, daughter of Hector Briarwood, Archmage of Antiquity on the Cerberus Assembly, accused of necromancy and burned alive inside her estate with her husband who was discovered to be a vampire.”

“What was her husband’s name?” Captain Malcolm asked from the other side of the glass.

“Sylas Briarwood. Deceased in 795 PD of an unknown disease... And again in 804 when the Cerberus Assembly burned the estate to the ground.”

“So she raised him after this disease, they faked their deaths, and now they’re sitting in my garrison…”

“Are you sure it’s them?”

“Sylas, Delilah, vampire, necromancer, yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s them.”

“There’s no mention of Cronqvist though.”

“Maybe he married up.”

“Wait, hold on a second. They’re sitting in your garrison? You’ve got them there?  _ With you? _ ”

“Yeah? I don’t know what the king wants me to do with necromancers. They didn’t exactly cover this in training...”

He was so nonchalant about it. As if he didn’t realize the danger he was in. Now, I’d dealt with vampires before. Clearing out a nest of them was what got me this promotion. So I knew what they could do. “Kill him. Kill him right now. If she’s still human she’ll have to stand trial, but every second that he lives is a risk we don’t want to take.”

“Ok…”

“You have a cleric there, right? Let me speak to them.” I said, already making a mental list of the books I’d need from the library.


	19. Percy

It only took me about ten minutes to get Vesper to quiet down, then I set her to play in the pen in the corner. The scrying orb was used up, the earrings wouldn’t reach all the way to the castle, and I didn’t really want to go running off after my wife. She’d made her decision and I’d made mine. We shouldn’t have helped the Briarwoods last time. I’m sure we could have found another way to break the curse on Vesper.

Just because we’re married doesn’t mean we have to do everything together. I didn’t have to support this. Vex would probably  _ appreciate _ my support. She’d probably think very highly of me if I helped her just because I loved her, not because I felt like I had to agree with her. I didn’t agree with her, but I did love her. She could handle herself. But if something did happen, I’d rather be there to be able to do something about it. And with the Briarwoods, something was going to happen.

I knocked on the door of Polly’s room and asked her to keep an eye on the baby. “Vex is off on a fool’s errand and I have to make sure she comes home alive.”

“Oh, of course, sir. Vesper will be fine until you get back.”

“Thank you, Polly.” Then I went up to our room and pulled out Cabal’s Ruin and the Spider Climb boots. I stared at the guns for a solid minute before reaching past them for my sword. Maybe I should just melt them down and turn them into cogs.

Polly was holding Vesper by the door when I came downstairs, so I gave my daughter one last kiss before I left. “Don’t worry. Mama’s just being an idiot. We’ll be home before dinner.”

She smiled and lifted Vesper’s hand in a wave, “bye, daddy. I’ll miss you.”

I couldn’t suppress a smile before the door shut behind me.

The walk through town was warm and sunny. Whitestone hadn’t looked this happy since I was a boy. Of course, you could still see signs of the darkness; boarded-up buildings and such. It would have been faster to avoid it, but I decided to walk past the Sun Tree. It was a completely different tree than the one… we’d seen when we arrived. But I could still fool myself into thinking those were the shadows of bodies. And Vex wanted to rescue the Briarwoods again. There was nothing redeemable about them. Even if they had just been after the ziggurat, they didn’t have to hurt the town. They didn’t have to terrorize my people. They didn’t have to force them to live in fear.

I turned away and started up the road to the castle. It was much more peaceful once I got out of town. Nature seemed to get over trauma significantly faster than people.

Once I stepped into the cool front hall, I waved a servant over and asked them which way my wife had gone.

“She’s up with lady Cassandra, sir.”

“Thank you.” I headed up the stairs, down the hall, to my sister’s study, and opened the door. “Ok, Vex, I can’t let you go alone.”


	20. Dirk

“The biggest problem is keeping it from escaping before the sunlight hits.” Roger flipped through the papers in front of him. “They can transform into a bat, or even a mist, which make restraints practically useless. What you want to do is get your hands on some wolfsbane. Brew it like tea, it’s not picky, and that’ll stop it from shifting for a while.”

“Wolfsbane. Gotcha.” I scribbled it down on the page half-filled with notes. With the information we had now, anyone could kill a vampire. “Won’t it be suspicious though?”

“Not if you don’t give it a reason to be. Wolfsbane doesn’t have a scent. It might taste like bad tea, but by then it’s already too late. And if that doesn’t work you can try  _ Hold Person _ or  _ Turn Undead _ . It can’t resist indefinitely, so just be persistent.”

Well, I’d already cast Zone of Truth twice, but I could use the power for stronger spells if I had to. “So, that’s everything then. He’ll be dead by breakfast.”

“Fabulous. And then if you could call Malcolm back, I’ll walk him through the paperwork.”

“Paperwork?” We didn’t have to fill out paperwork to rid the land of monsters...

“Yeah. You said he was the lord of a village, right? So this is going to be a martial execution. Speaking of which, do you have any civilians nearby? In order for it to be legal, you need a non-military witness.”

I sat back in my chair. Apparently, this was a bigger deal than I thought. And it would take a while to get a witness from town. Was it worth it?

> _ To rid the world of this threat? Yes. Dirk, he is in your grasp now, it is your duty to kill him. He cannot be allowed to continue. _

Torm made a good point. If I didn’t kill him, who would? But I wasn’t strong enough to keep him here long enough to get a witness.

> _ You already have a witness. _

His wife?!

> _ You’re right. You aren’t strong enough to keep him here. If you take the time to get someone else, he will escape. I will not count it against you if you use your resources, but he must die. Dirk, this is the best way. _

Alright. She was a necromancer anyway; only human enough to require a trial. “Well, Roger, as luck would have it...”


	21. Vex

Percy came charging into the room like some kind of hero saying that he ‘couldn’t let me go alone.’ I was perfectly capable of handling myself, but it might be nice to have someone else with me. So we pulled a chair from the hall and let him join our counsel.

“And you’re ok with this?” he asked Cassandra.

She sighed and rubbed at her temple. “No. But if they’re happy, they won’t come round here again and I won’t have to think about it.”

“The only problem is that I don’t know exactly where they are.”

“Or what she’s going to do when she gets there.”

He settled back in his chair and laced his fingers together. “It’s a military outpost, right?”

“Right.”

“So we can say that the Briarwoods aren’t under their jurisdiction.”

I gave him a look. “Will they believe us?”

“Sure. We know that Sylas and Delilah ‘died’ when their estate was burned to the ground. The Briarwoods that were Dwendalian citizens are dead. This is lord and lady Briarwood of Whitestone castle.”

“They are not lord and lady of Whitestone  _ anything! _ Percy, Whitestone is a democracy thanks to you, and I don’t want them associated with us!” Cassandra cried, positively indignant.

“Then how do you propose we get them away from the government?”

“Maybe we shouldn’t. Maybe they’re evil, and they’re getting what they deserve.”

“Cassandra,” I chimed in, “ _ Maybe _ , this isn’t about them. I’m going to save them. We can associate them with Whitestone for a minute, but I’ll make sure it doesn’t go down in any records.”

“Fine. If it puts this threat to rest, then go ahead!” She set her hands on the desk and pushed herself up. “I can’t handle this right now. Percy, do what you think is best. I’ll let you use the teleportation circle when you have a plan. Good luck.” And she headed for the door.

Percy got to his feet and set a hand on the door to stop her. It was too quiet for me to hear, and he turned away so I couldn’t read his lips, but I could see that whatever he said softened her. She did leave, but she wasn’t so angry. Then he turned back to me. “Alright. We still don’t know a lot, but at least we have some idea of what to do when we get there. How do we get there?”

“I don’t know. Keyleth won’t take us.”

“Well, that’s not surprising. Have you tried asking Scanlan?”

“Wait, Scanlan can teleport?!”


	22. Sylas

Now that Dirk was sure, he was completely justified in putting a guardian outside my door. Which just made my life easier. I could push past it, but then what? I still had to wait until Delilah had her spells back, and make sure she could use them. It wasn’t like I was going to leave her behind. So we were still there in the early morning when Robin came down with breakfast.

“Sorry, it’s not blood. You do eat human food, don’t you?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and willed her to evaporate.

“Anyway, we’ve got some eggs, and toast, and tea. The toast is a little on the dark side, Malcolm insisted it was fine, and the tea was steeped for too long. But hey! It’s better than nothing, am I right?”

“I honestly couldn’t care less.” I hoped there was enough venom in my voice to prevent her from speaking again.

“Alright… Well, enjoy, I guess.” She set the tray down and, thankfully, left me alone.

The toast wasn’t that dark. And I preferred tea that you could taste. I would let it steep until I was finished with the pot. It didn’t make sense not to get everything you could from them.

I didn’t need food, but tea would be nice. So I took the cup and took a sip. Wow. We must have been farther from home than we thought. That didn’t taste like any tea I’d ever had. It was dark, almost bitter, with a spicy aftertaste. It wasn’t necessarily  _ bad _ … I took another sip. Scratch that, it was definitely bitter. What was in this tea?

A thought occurred to me, and I set the cup down. Two sips couldn’t hurt, right?

...

...fuck. Fuck.  _ Fuck! _ God damn it! Delilah’s plan had better be better than this. I wouldn’t last a week without her.


	23. Dirk

“Nice.” I nodded at Robin as she walked past the corner where I’d been listening to the whole thing. “Excellent acting; really sold it.”

She smiled. “Oh, that was nothing. You should see what my sister does. Now how long is this supposed to take?”

“Not long. We should have just enough time to get everything else ready.”

So we headed out to the main room where Malcolm was just ending the communication with Roger. “Ok. This is going to be much more than a simple kill,” he said, turning to us. “We’ve got procedures to follow. Robin, if you and Dirk get things ready outside, I’ll inform our witness.” He stood up from the desk with a good deal of effort.

“Are you sure we should tell her?” Robin asked. “Maybe it’s better if…”

Malcolm just sighed. “They are married. She has a right to know.”


	24. Pike

I was out in the garden weeding the tulips when Wilhand’s voice shouted across the yard to me. “Pike! Your stone was buzzing! Vax wants to talk to you!”

“‘Vex’!” I shouted back, “her name is ‘Vex’!” But I did stand up and brush the dirt from my hands before heading over to take the stone. “Hello?”

“Hi, Pike!”

“Hi!”

“Do you know where Scanlan is? Wilhand wasn’t very helpful.”

“Kaylie’s visiting from Emon and they went down to the tavern…” My great-great-grandfather popped into view and mimed pouring tea. I nodded and sat down to tug off my boots. “Why do you need him?”

“He’s the only person who can teleport beside Keyleth, and Keyleth won’t help us.”

Wait, why does she need to teleport? “Vex, start from the beginning.”

She took a deep breath and told me everything. About how Delilah had contacted Percy, she saw her through the scrying orb, and no one would let her go help.

I sighed. “Vex… I—” I wanted to say that I was with Keyleth and Cassandra on this one, but a voice in the back of my head piped up before I could.

> _ She is a victim of circumstance. Help her. Show her the Light. There is hope for her yet. _

“...alright. I’ll contact Scanlan.”

“Awesome! You might want to come up with him, Percy wants us to be prepared for anything.”

“Ok, ok, ok. We’ll be there in half an hour.” I shook my head at Wilhand’s look and put my boots back on. I wouldn’t have time for tea.


	25. Delilah

I hadn’t seen anyone since the interrogation. I couldn’t tell you how long it had been. Maybe six hours? More? Less? I had slept and recovered my spells, so it felt like early morning when my door opened.

“Lady Cronqvist?” Captain Malcolm stepped into the cell. “I’ve got some bad news. I spoke with headquarters and, due to your husband’s nature, I’ve been ordered to execute him immediately.”

“Immediately?” I blinked. I suppose there was no need for a trial, Dirk knew Sylas was undead from the minute we arrived. Actually, this might be just what we need. If they thought he was dead he’d be free to rescue me.

He must have registered my shock because his voice was much softer when he said, “there’s more. A legal martial execution requires at least one witness, and this witness cannot be affiliated with the military branch performing the execution. We’re kind of out in the middle of nowhere here, and I’ve been ordered not to wait.”

There was no mistaking what he meant. Whatever fear he’d seen in my expression was genuine now. But, I wasn’t worried about Sylas. These people had already proven that they had no idea how to deal with our kind. Dirk thought a guardian was enough protection, so he wasn’t a threat. They were probably just going to shoot him full of arrows; he’d mist back into the garrison and we’d teleport away, problem solved. So, I wasn’t worried about Sylas. But the fact that they needed me to witness it, that was going too far. “Let me get this straight; you’re going to murder my husband because he  _ happens _ to be a vampire, and in order for it to be  _ legal _ you’re going to  _ make me WATCH?!” _

He looked like I had slapped him. “Well, I—”

“Yes! Captain. The correct answer is ‘yes’. And, ‘you’re right, it is _unnecessarily_ cruel considering the fact that there has been no  _ crime _ committed!’ We are just a man and his wife trying to get  _ home!” _

Now he straightened and his eyes got very hard. I saw how he’d earned the rank of captain. “ _ You _ are a wanted criminal and your husband is an abomination! My actions are entirely justified. There  _ will _ be an execution. We  _ will _ follow protocol. I  _ will _ fill out the paperwork. And you  _ will _ bear witness.”

The fear returned as a cold hand around my heart at his words. But I couldn’t let myself be intimidated. “If you harm one hair on his head, you will beg me to kill you quickly.”

“Funny, I don’t think I will.” And the door shut behind him.


	26. Scanlan

We were in the middle of our third set on the tavern stage when I received a message from Pike. “Scanlan! Percy and Vex need us in Whitestone. The Briarwoods are in trouble and she wants to help. Come home, we’ll teleport up there together.”   
  
I skipped a note. The audience was too drunk to notice, but Kaylie shot me a look. I waved her off when she quirked an eyebrow and pointed to my engagement ring. I insisted on wearing it ever since Pike proposed. She seemed to understand what I meant, launching into an improvised interlude on her fiddle to cover for me long enough to respond.   
  
Wait, had she said the Briarwoods? And Vex wanted to help them? Had she lost her mind? I had too many questions for one Sending. Besides, if my lady love was asking me to come, I couldn’t deny her. We could discuss this when we got there.

So I sent back, “alright. Kaylie and I are on our way,” before finishing the song with gusto and addressing the crowd. “Sorry to leave you folks like this, but we’ve got urgent business with lords and ladies. So, if you’ll excuse us…”

There were a few boos that were quickly drowned out by laughter when Kaylie said, “aw, shut your pie-holes; we’ll be back tomorrow. Right, dad?”

“Absolutely.” And we both jumped off the stage.

She put her violin back in its case, I tucked my shawm into my bag, and we headed for home.


End file.
